HEALTHY NOW
When you should eat fat, and not eat fruit
By Greg Rothman, M.S. P.T.
In my first four columns this year, I’ve introduced strategies I’ve used to help hundreds of people reach their goals and attain their optimal fitness levels. In order to maximize the ability to build strong, lean bodies and burn stored body fat, people need to eat in a supportive way, build or maintain metabolically active muscle tissue, and do moderate amounts of the most effective type of cardiovascular exercise.
I’ve received a lot of e-mails from people putting what they’ve learned to work. They tell me they are already experiencing greater energy throughout the day and fitting into “skinny” clothes that long ago were relegated to the backs of their closets. But because of the density of the information I’ve given, I’ve also received a great many questions seeking answers to the often puzzling quest to be fit. Here, I’m going to answer a couple of those questions.
After reading your column on nutrition and checking out your Website, I see that you recommend eating proteins and carbohydrates, but you don’t say how much fat to eat. I’d always heard that you need some fat in your diet. Did you leave something out?
You’re right—the human body does require some fat to survive. Our cell membranes are composed of fat, which our bodies use it for insulation in colder weather, and fat is required for nerve-impulse transmission. However, I don’t recommend consuming a specified amount of fat, because if you eat as I suggest, you will get all you need. Even very lean proteins have some fat in them—often more than we’re led to believe—and most people have too much fat in their diets, not too little.
I do, however, make some recommendations about fat intake: You minimize saturated fats, for example. These fats are solid at room temperature, such as in steak or butter, and the latter is actually 100 percent saturated fat. I also suggest eliminating hydrogenated fats, a.k.a. “trans” fats. These fats actually start out good until food producers pump hydrogen atoms into them, making them stay solid at room temperature and the enemy of every cell in your body. This is done to increase the shelf life of processed foods in which they are found, and they are the least healthy kind of fat. Look for “partially hydrogenated” on food labels and avoid them.
As for fats you should eat, I recommend taking a fish-oil supplement every morning. The fats in these are called “essential fatty acids” (EFAs) because your body cannot manufacture them on its own. These are your omega-3 fatty acids, the kind that are actually very healthy for your coronary arteries. They also keep the fats mobile in the bloodstream and help you release fat more efficiently by optimizing insulin sensitivity.
And one more benefit: When we get enough of “good” fats, we tend to have less of a craving for “bad” fats. Monounsaturated fats are also good choices and can be found in olive oil, tree nuts, avocados and other sources. I have a list of the best sources of “good” fats on my Web site at: www.emPowerFitnessNYC.com/diet_nutrition.
You don’t say much about fruit in your column. I eat a lot of fruit and have a couple glasses of orange juice in the morning because it’s so healthy. In a column about health, it would be helpful to read more about this and which ones are best.
That’s a great point—fruits contain a lot of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. But if fat loss is a goal, then eating a lot of fruit is a poor choice because they contain a lot of simple sugar—the substance most likely to turn to fat in your body. Simple sugars (especially when eaten without other macronutrients like protein) also spike the blood sugar. This produces a large insulin response, which shuts down the body’s ability to release stored fat.
Fruit juices are even worse. Without the attenuating fiber that is found in whole fruits, the sugars in juices cause even larger blood sugar spikes. Many people don’t know that orange juice has considerably more sugar by volume than Coke or Pepsi. An 8-ounce glass of OJ contains the equivalent of more than five heaping teaspoons of sugar.
In order to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals, your nutrition should come primarily from whole foods, including a lot of vegetables. Yes, some fruits are OK too, but they should not be eaten as snacks by themselves. I also recommend a daily multivitamin, which also can be found on my Web site. They make separate formulas for men and women, both made from a combination of 25 whole, organic fruits and vegetables. Any multivitamin of this type will serve you well, but there is evidence that most of the commercial formulas that are synthetic (made in laboratories) are difficult for the body to use and absorb. Make sure that one you choose comes from real foods, not science experiments.
Next week I’ll answer queries from readers regarding the exercise philosophies I’ve written about in my last two columns, so keep sending your most pressing questions.
